Anderbad Express
by Laurelin-Eruwaithiel
Summary: Lady Penelope is called upon to do some 'agenting' when a scientist goes missing before revealing the secret to his life's work, and the Tracy brothers discover their father had been keeping secrets from them. Set in TAG (2015) but inspired by the original series episode "Perils of Penelope" with some of my own ideas woven in.
1. A moonlit meeting

BACKGROUND

In my writing I've used the same history for the Tracy brothers as the original series. Some people have said that because John was watching Stingray in the first episode that WASP can't exist now, but I choose to think it's like watching detective or medical dramas, police and doctors still exist in the real world too. Therefore, WASP still exists in the TAG real world too.

GDF = Global Defense Force

WASP = World Aquanaut Security Patrol

Chapter 1 – A moonlit meeting

The ever loyal Parker drove his charge through the pretty streets of Paris in the iconic pink FAB1. He was particularly glad that Sherbet had not crossed the Channel with them. It was late and the streetlights illuminated the quaint shop fronts and cafes. Parker pulled up outside the Café Atalante and opened the door for Lady Penelope. She elegantly exited the car with a "Thank you Parker," and made straight for the table where an older gentleman sat. Parker waited by the car.

"Lady Penelope!" the man happily proclaimed as she slid on to the seat opposite him.

"Sir Jeremy," she courteously replied.

The waiter arrived at the table and perhaps more out of habit Lady Penelope noted the general appearance of the man. His tie was poorly done as though he'd rushed getting dressed, although his shoes were very well shined and tidy from scuffs. He had short brown hair and was clean shaven, she didn't notice the colour of his eyes. She observed that as he stood with his hands clasped in front of him there was a red mark like a squiggle between his thumb and wrist. It was as though he'd drawn red pen on his hand, although Penelope couldn't recall the last time she'd ever seen anyone using a biro.

"Thank you for coming, my dear. May I get you a drink?" Sir Jeremy asked. Lady Penelope waved her hand and politely refused. Sir Jeremy turned to the waiter, "A whiskey dear fellow, on the rocks." The waiter nodded and left.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure Sir Jeremy?" Lady Penelope enquired of her summons to Paris.

"Are we safe to talk?" he asked, "You weren't followed?"

Lady Penelope shook her head and said "No, we were not."

"I'm concerned about a friend of mine," Lord Jeremy started but as the waiter returned with his drink he shifted uncomfortably and maintained a silence until he was out of ear shot again. "Professor Borender was meant to speak at the World Scientific Consortium in Anderbad last week, but he never arrived."

"And that would be unusual behaviour for the Professor I take it?" Lady Penelope asked.

"Highly," Sir Jeremy commented. He continued to tell Lady Penelope about how he had assisted the Professor on occasion with some work that related to a project that Borender was over-seeing, but he had kept the details of the project a secret from him. He described to Lady Penelope some of the lengths the Professor went to and little secretive ways he had. Sir Jeremy had thought the Professor was going bonkers and suffering from paranoid delusions, however, he had suddenly disappeared before the conference in Anderbad where he was to be revealing the culmination of his life's work. Sir Jeremy believed the Professor was going to reveal the product of the secret project he'd given some assistance with but it was hard to say with the way the Professor had kept all the details so closely guarded. It was only now that Sir Jeremy had realised that perhaps his colleague had had good reason to be paranoid.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Lady Penelope questioned.

"We had lunch right here the day before the conference," Sir Jeremy answered, "I saw him on to the hanging monotrain to Anderbad myself. Yet when I enquired with them after he missed the conference they claimed there were no records of him ever being on the train." His voice rose slightly with his frustration. "I KNOW he boarded it!"

Sir Jeremy regained his composure and straightened his tie, perhaps a little embarrassed about his outburst. He awkwardly smiled at Lady Penelope and took a sip of his drink.

"Alright, Sir Jeremy," Lady Penelope reassured, "I believe it's worthy of investigation, you can leave it to me."

He smiled gratefully at the young blonde Lady. They parted with a friendly kiss on the cheek. Parker opened the door to FAB1.

"To your 'otel, m'lady?" he asked.

"Yes thank you Parker," she answered as she slid in to the back seat. While Parker drove she opened her compact and contacted International Rescue.

"Lady P!" Scott's hologram greeted. "What's the occasion?"

"I was wondering if you could look in to any trouble on the Anderbad hanging monorail transport link over the last week," she requested.

"Sure thing," Scott replied. "I'll patch in John."


	2. Not up for discussion

Chapter 2 – Not up for discussion

Aboard Thunderbird 5 John accessed the archived logs of the planet's transmissions. He scrolled through the screens until he found the right databank. "No problems as far as I can tell from here." John reported back. "What's the problem you're looking for?"

"Professor Borender has vanished whilst travelling to a conference there. He's a colleague of an old friend of my father's, Sir Jeremy Hodge." Lady Penelope explained.

Scott stood in the main room of the house on Tracy Island with Brains and Gordon sitting on the chairs in front of him. Lady Penelope's and John's holograms projected over the table in the centre. Virgil trotted down the stairs to join them and stood next to Scott.

"Hodge," Scott mused aloud, "I know that name."

"You should," Brains replied, "Sir Jeremy Hodge worked with your father to create some of the components he eventually used for the Thunderbirds. He'd started some of the preliminary work before Jeff approached me at Cambridge."

Scott recalled his father meeting with Sir Hodge before International Rescue had been fully developed. "I guess he left to work with this Professor then?" Scott reasoned. "So what do we know Lady Penelope?"

"Well there seems to be some discrepancy in the records as to his boarding of the monotrain," Lady Penelope answered, "Sir Jeremy swears he saw him off the platform himself."

"Isn't it possible this Professor guy just got bored of stuffy conferencing and made a break for it?" Gordon mockingly asked. "I know I would."

"Not at all," Lady Penelope answered sternly. "I'm going to take the same monotrain to Anderbad and see if I can't turn up some clues as to his whereabouts."

"Be careful, Lady Penelope," John cautioned, "We don't have any real information to work with."

"What can we do to help?" Scott offered helpfully.

"Sir Jeremy said that whatever the Professor was working on had something to do with a substance he named Toxerlene." Lady Penelope informed.

"Whoa, wait!" Gordon interrupted, "Did you say Toxerlene?"

"You've heard of it?" Scott questioned turning to his brother.

"I know the Commanders at WASP didn't like it." Gordon replied. "They were sure that the danger of contamination to the marine environment was like way too bad to risk."

"They didn't stop the project?" Virgil asked knowing it had been almost five years since his brother had left that organisation to join their father's work with International Rescue, as they all had.

"Err, no… dad, erm, persuaded them not to," Gordon answered awkwardly and the others looked at him a bit bewildered.

"Dad?" Scott asked and exchanged a questioning look with Virgil that confirmed neither of them knew about this, "Why would he do that?"

Gordon shrugged, "Dunno, but once he got involved I was assigned somewhere else. I asked him about it afterwards and he told me it 'wasn't up for discussion' and I wasn't to have any more to do with it."

Scott frowned, "Why would he keep it secret from us?" He felt a little angry and a lot confused, he thought his father had always kept them well informed. Gordon shifted awkwardly, he wasn't really supposed to have spoken about their father's involvement in the project to anyone, but it had been years ago and nothing ever seemed to have come from it.

"Priorities, boys," Lady Penelope reminded them and Scott shook his head as if to dispel whatever thoughts were lingering in his mind.

"Alright," Scott said as he formulated the action, "Lady Penelope, you and Parker take the monotrain."

"Will do," Lady Penelope confirmed, that was after all her plan.

"John, I need you to monitor their progress, check it against any data we have for the Professor's journey, see if it turns up anything," Scott commanded.

"F.A.B." John's hologram replied.

"Hopefully the Professor will turn up and maybe he'll be kind enough to answer some questions for us. Until then we'll try and look in to this Toxerlene stuff, see if we can shed any light on why someone might have taken the Professor for it," Scott shrugged, "Maybe it'll help. We'll be on standby in case there's any trouble and you need us."

"Alright, Scott," Lady Penelope answered, "I'll keep in touch."

With that Lady Penelope closed her compact and her hologram disappeared from the main room in Tracy Island. Scott couldn't help but continue to wonder why his father had gotten involved in something that according to Gordon sounded pretty hazardous. Even more than that he tried to fathom why their father had kept it secret from all of them. If it wasn't as dangerous as it appeared, why had their father made sure Gordon was kept well away from the project and refused to even discuss it? What had he been hiding?


	3. Overnight encounter

Chapter 3 – Overnight encounter

The next morning Parker managed to arrange passes for the overnight train to Anderbad on the same line Professor Borender had travelled. Lady Penelope spent the day packing carefully and liaising with Thunderbird 5 about every detail of their travel arrangements. Even the slightest deviation would alert International Rescue to anything suspicious.

At the station, Parker handed over Lady Penelope's luggage to the porter for their compartment. He was a pleasant young fellow with dark brown hair and green eyes. Parker noted that he didn't quite have the proper training that he himself possessed but he was young and the service was above adequate. The monotrain departed and the usual onboard services commenced. Lady Penelope and Parker sat for a time watching as the world whizzed passed the large windows. It was a long journey to Anderbad so Lady Penelope made small talk with her fellow passengers, sharing drinks and stories quite pleasantly. Parker kept an eye open for any shifty behaviour amongst the passengers and crew of the monotrain, nothing stood out for the time being. As he patrolled the compartments of the monotrain Parker casually made enquires with the staff about the Professor and anything that might have occurred on the journey the week previous. Many of them hadn't been working on that night's shift and the few that had simply complained about low stocks of beverages their guests kept requesting, made light of some of their more challenging passengers and cursed that damn twenty minute power-cut in the Anderbad tunnel that put them behind schedule. Lady Penelope excused herself to check in with Thunderbird 5 and John confirmed that an internal fault had caused the delay, nothing to be worried about.

As the sunlight faded behind the mountains Lady Penelope and Parker as well as many of the monotrain passengers retired to their overnight accommodations. Lady Penelope dressed in her night attire and sat in front of her dresser mirror, brushing her hair before she settled for the night. As she did so, she noticed a shadow moving in the gap under her door behind her reflection. The footsteps lingered outside her room and she narrowed her eyes at them. She grabbed a heavy ornament from her room and held it ready to defend herself if necessary. She carefully crept over to the door way and taking a deep breath pressed the control for the door to slide open.

She caught sight of the transport companies' logo on his jacket as the man turned around to face her and she quickly concealed the ornament behind her back before he could see.

"What are you doing?" Lady Penelope demanded sharply. "Who are you?"

"The night porter, ma'am. Just doing my rounds," he coolly replied. Lady Penelope noted he spoke with the slightest hint of a Scandinavian twang in his accent, she couldn't decide how much he was trying to hide it as he spoke. "Is there anything you need, madam?" he politely offered as he draped a cloth he was holding over his bent arm as though ready to wait on her.

She barely caught the flash of it in the corner of her eye. By the time she looked properly, the cloth was already covering most of his hand, but she was almost sure she'd seen that red zig-zag scribble at the base of his thumb. Could this be the same man from the café in Paris? She analysed the porter's appearance, his hair was darker than the waiter's although hair colour is easily changed she thought. She admitted she hadn't quite noticed the colour of his eyes back in Paris but as she stared the porter in the face she could see they were definitely icy blue and they made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Lady Penelope thought for a moment and carefully deposited the ornament she had been wielding on a shelf near the doorway.

"Parker," she called loudly and the door next to hers opened as if he'd already been waiting at the door for her summons.

"Yes, m'lady?" he replied whilst looking over the porter standing outside her ladyship's doorway.

"Did you bring my favourite hot chocolate?" she asked him adding an air of snobbery for the porter's benefit.

"Yes, m'lady," Parker answered, "I h-anticipated that you would like a hot beverage before bedtime. Shall I put the kettle on for you?"

"Thank you Parker," Lady Penelope said and turned to the monotrain porter, "I shall not be needing your services then." She flashed a smile at him before he nodded and retreated down the corridor. "What do you make of him Parker?" she asked once the man had gone.

"Shifty," Parker answered bluntly.

"Indeed," Lady Penelope agreed, "Keep an eye out for our friend."

"Yes, m'lady," Parker dutifully answered.

She closed her door and reported the suspicious porter to Thunderbird 5 immediately.

"I'll have Scott come for you right away," John replied to Lady Penelope's message.

"Not just yet," she insisted. "He may yet lead us to the whereabouts of our elusive Professor Borender, I just need a little more time."

"I don't like it," John protested. "We still don't know what the Professor was working on."

"I know," Lady Penelope confessed, "but I intend to get to the bottom of this."

Reluctantly John agreed to allow Lady Penelope to continue her investigation, but contacted Tracy Island to inform them of their London Agent's progress. It took a little persuading but finally Scott conceded that she was simply doing the job she'd signed up for.

The incident had left Lady Penelope wary and she didn't sleep soundly as she curled up in the cabin bed. Parker dutifully kept watch through the night although no further disturbances occurred. It was 6.30 local time in the morning when Lady Penelope emerged from her room, ready for breakfast and Parker escorted her ladyship to the dining car of the monotrain.

Lady Penelope rubbed her temples to soothe the ache of a restless night's sleep as their waiter poured her breakfast tea, two sugars and a splash of milk, before departing their company. Parker munched on a slice of toast he'd lavishly buttered. Lady Penelope smeared her favourite chocolate-spread all over a croissant. They listened as the monotrain conductor announced over the speakers that they would shortly be entering the long expanse of the Anderbad tunnel and divulged some tourist-related facts about it. Lady Penelope lifted the cup of tea to her lips and as she was taking a sip she noticed a small folded napkin had been carefully secreted on the saucer underneath the cup. Discretely she unfolded it in her lap and read the warning that had been left for her.

'You are dealing with desperate men.'

Lady Penelope looked around the compartment but their green-eyed waiter had disappeared.

"Parker," she asked, "that young man. Was he on the Professor's journey as well?"

"I do believe he was, ma'am," Parker answered.

"I think we need to find him," Lady Penelope suggested. Parker nodded, excused himself from her company and made his way to the door the young attendant had exited through. Lady Penelope opened her compact to contact Thunderbird 5 to fill John in on the development. However, the call did not connect and she simply got static as they entered the tunnel and the lights flickered on to compensate for the loss of natural light.


	4. Searching for secrets

Chapter 4 – Searching for secrets

As Kayo entered the main room on Tracy Island she could see Scott, Brains and Alan were unusually busy looking through data screens. She could hear Gordon's voice downstairs in the kitchen as though he were conversing with someone on the light type.

"What's going on?" she asked as the boys turned around to look at her as she approached them.

"Dad's been keeping secrets from us," Alan grumbled darkly and Kayo felt the flutter of butterflies in her tummy as he said it. She knew Jeff had kept her secret, did they finally know?

"It seems like dad was involved in a project with some dangerous materials, but it's all top secret and we're not having much luck figuring out what it was exactly or why he was interested in it," Scott explained and Kayo quietly breathed a sigh of relief for herself. The boys looked like they'd been sifting through information all night and were pretty exhausted. Grandma Tracy carried a tray of coffee mugs over to the table where they were sat and she shared a glance with Kayo.

"I'm sure your father had his reasons for keeping you out of this," Grandma Tracy tried to reason with Scott, she could tell he was growing angry over the secrecy surrounding this part of his father's work. He sighed deeply in reply. She had to admit, she was worried for Kayo if the boys kept digging that they might find her secret too. She understood that Kayo wasn't ready to reveal that gem of information just yet and she wasn't sure how they'd all react given their already anxious state. Gordon bounded up the stairs from the kitchen and smiled a greeting to Kayo as he grabbed a mug of coffee from Grandma Tracy's tray.

"So?" Scott queried the aquanaut.

"My buddy at WASP said they were barely involved with the project," Gordon informed the room. "Especially after I was shipped off elsewhere."

Scott looked disappointed, "Thanks for trying Gordon."

Gordon smiled, "He was able to tell me that WASP were assigned to secure a site for the project and he was under the impression that once that was done they'd be keeping tabs on whatever was going on. He reckons that only the Commanders really knew what the project was about but they stone-walled when he asked them about it. He also said that Professor Borender put some sorta petition in to the World Council with dad's help and the project was removed from their remit after that."

"A petition for what?" Alan asked curiously.

"To build a refinery." Virgil stated as he entered the room. His clothes and hair were covered in dust and he dumped a heavy cardboard box in the middle of the table in front of them. A thick cloud of dust rolled off it making them all cough.

"What is that thing?" Gordon questioned waving the dusty air from in front of his face.

Scott scrutinised the writing on the side of the box, 'SCOTT / OXFORD'. He looked up at Virgil who gave him a knowing glance in return. Scott had attended both Oxford University in England and Yale University in the States, but since all his work had been electronic he was at a loss as to what could possibly be contained in the old dusty box. Perhaps in answer Virgil flipped the lid off the box to reveal it full of old files in various coloured folders.

"Where did you find this?" Scott questioned as he, Brains, Gordon, Alan and Kayo gathered around the table to inspect its contents.

"Dad's … other office," Virgil explained.

"What other office?" Scott demanded, just how much had their father hidden from them?

"I'll show you later," Virgil answered, "There's boxes labelled for each of us, mostly they contain dad's original ideas and plans for the Thunderbirds designs," he smiled and gave a little laugh, "there's a lot of old vehicle plans in mine for the pods."

Scott pulled a purple file out of his box and looked over the details. It seemed like some information on a failed project for some kind of reactor as far as Scott was able to tell. "These files aren't for Thunderbird 1?"

"No," Virgil answered, "They're all in your 'YALE' box, but this box did have this in it." Virgil pulled out a file and laid the blueprints flat on the table.

Brains inspected the details of the plans and confirmed Virgil's assessment that it was the design for some kind of refinery but he was having difficulty completely understanding what it was designed to refine. Scott looked over the hand written remarks around the sheet and couldn't find anything that referred to Toxerlene.

"How do you know this is related to what Borender was working on?" Scott asked.

Virgil pointed to the information panel in the corner of the sheet, "It's dated 2054, the same year Gordon was talking about, and the structural design is reinforced to withstand undersea pressures."

"So, what? Gordon asked, "We think dad built this in secret for Borender to finish his work?"

"Where is it?" Alan questioned.

"I guess that's another question the Professor will have to answer for us," Scott surmised sullenly.

They were interrupted by John's hologram appearing above them. "Tracy Island, we have a situation."

"Go ahead John," Scott stated in reply.

"I lost contact with Lady Penelope and Parker as they entered the Anderbad tunnel. I think the minerals in the mountains are interfering with the signal." John explained, "It might just be a coincidence but their monotrain suffered a power failure about five minutes ago, it's moving again now, but I think there might be trouble."

"Copy that Thunderbird 5," Scott stated, "I'm sending Thunderbird 2 to check it out."


	5. Penelope in peril

Chapter 5 – Penelope in peril

It had only been a short time since power had been restored in the tunnel and the monotrain had rushed off without her. Lady Penelope stumbled along blindly as her captor led her along, a black hood over her head obscured her ability to survey her surroundings and she was simply at the mercy of the man who led the way. Her hands were bound in cuffs in front of her which the captor grasped firmly to lead her on. He clumsily dragged her up some steps and Penelope felt the gentle tug as extra weight was added to her bonds, the cool wind whistled through the tunnel around her.

The man removed the hood from Lady Penelope and she could see that she was bound to a cable which was wound over the monotrain's rail supports on the ceiling of the tunnel. Lady Penelope took in her surroundings, she was standing on the edge of a platform outside a control station for the monotrain transport system. Clearly this un-manned unit was her assailant's means of controlling the power outages that had resulted in her own and the Professor's disappearances. Her captor, the icy-blue eyed porter from the monotrain, smiled wickedly at her, but Lady Penelope looked passed him and gazed at the man inside the control room, he was tied up to one of the console chairs and she noticed a fading bruise marred his cheek.

"Professor Borender I presume?" Lady Penelope coolly greeted the poor old gentleman.

He smiled faintly at her, "My poor dear, I'm afraid I've gotten you quite mixed up in all this," he sadly replied to her.

"Quite alright," she reassured him, "Sir Jeremy sent me to find you."

"Jeremy," the Professor mused, "He won't know what he's sent you in to."

"Enough," declared the porter. "Now Professor, you will reveal to me the formula for converting sea-water in to the rocket fuel you call Toxerlene or your young lady friend will meet a rather messy end."

"I told you I can't do that," the Professor exclaimed, "Even the slightest miscalculation would have a devastating impact on the environment. It's just too risky in the wrong hands!"

Lady Penelope surveyed her options as she stood on the precipice of the platform. She hoped that once she had lost contact with Thunderbird 5, John would have been alerted to something going awry and surely Parker would be able to raise the alarm once the monotrain reached Anderbad station. Penelope needed to stall to allow International Rescue time to find them.

"You must stop the monotrain," Borender continued to plead with their captor, "Cut the power and we can talk this over."

"Sure I'll cut the power, once you give up the formula," the mysterious porter responded.

Professor Borender shook his head regrettably, "I keep telling you I can't. Won't you listen to reason? The formula is useless to you without the means to convert the sea-water in any case."

"What are you talking about?" the icy blue-eyed man narrowed his eyes at the Professor.

"That's what Jeff helped you with." Lady Penelope spoke up, the Professor nodded solemnly.

The porter turned on Penelope, "Helped with what? Tell me now!"

"Such an unusual project would have needed highly specialised equipment to process the Toxerlene." Lady Penelope explained, methodically slowly to bide some time. "I dare say that only one such processing plant exists in the world."

"I see," the porter mulled over the thought in his mind. "And where would that be?"

"Oh, I'm afraid I'm not able to reveal such privileged information." Lady Penelope continued to speak clearly and calmly. "But if I could contact my friend Jeff, I'm sure we'd be able to come to an arrangement."

The Professor protested vehemently against her apparent decision to unveil the information their captor was seeking but Penelope stood stoically facing the icy blue-eyed man. She realised he was perhaps a little older than she'd thought at first as he stared back at her, contemplating her offer. He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously before smiling, "Nice try Miss Penelope. The Professor will reveal to me the formula AND the location of the processing plant."

He flashed Penelope another wicked grin and began to winch the other end of the cable she was bound to so that she was forced off the edge of the platform and it pulled her up so that she dangled helplessly from the monotrain rail. He looked mockingly at his watch and said, "The Express is due through here very soon, you had better hope your friend talks before it arrives. The monotrain may catch a glimpse of you, but by then of course it will be too late to stop."

Lady Penelope kicked at thin air as she struggled to free herself from the cable as her captor retreated inside the control station to interrogate the Professor. Mostly Lady Penelope could hear her heart rate pulsing through her ears but she caught the sounds of the Professor pleading with their mysterious captor to release her and denying that he could pass on the information the man wanted. She momentarily stilled herself as an ominous rushing sound fluttered its way through the tunnel around her and Penelope felt as the vibrations from the cable supporting her slowly grew stronger, indicating the Express was closing in on her.


	6. Impending collison

Chapter 6 – Impending collision

Virgil could see Lady Penelope's monotrain speeding its way to Anderbad as he landed Thunderbird 2 in a small flat opening on the far side of the mountain.

"Don't tell me we made this trip for nothing," Virgil commented over the channel to Thunderbird 5.

"Afraid not," John replied, "I've just been contacted by Parker aboard the monotrain. Lady Penelope has been taken."

Virgil, Gordon and Kayo exchanged alarmed looks in the cock-pit of Thunderbird 2. In the pod bay Virgil configured a pod to take them in to the tunnel to find Lady Penelope, she still had to be in there somewhere. Gordon configured another pod to take him to pick up Parker from the monotrain station in Anderbad.

"I should'a gone after her earlier," Scott's hologram lamented.

"You couldn't know what was going to happen," Virgil attempted to console the older Tracy, he knew Scott always carried the weight of his decisions and it wasn't his fault that things had turned out this way. Virgil and Kayo climbed in to their vehicle and Virgil steered them towards the tunnel as Gordon raced off towards the town in the other pod.

"You're going to have to step on in Thunderbird 2," John informed Virgil as he drove in to the mouth of the tunnel. "The Anderbad Express is due through there in the next fifteen minutes."

"F.A.B. Thunderbird 5." Virgil acknowledged. "Do we have a reading on where the monotrain stopped during the power-out?"

"About sixteen miles from your current location," John answered although his voice seemed slightly fainter than usual to Virgil.

"Can Parker give us any information about the assailants?" Kayo asked.

"Negative," John replied, "-#- separated from Lady -#-#-#- and -#-#-#-#-#-#- power-cut-#-"

Virgil frowned as the connection crackled intermittently and John's hologram flickered off. He had caught John saying something else about a console maybe, or was it control?

"Say again Thunderbird 5." Virgil called over the com, "John can you hear me?"

There was no answer as the signal disappeared, it was more than just interference, there was something blocking their communication signals. Virgil sped the pod vehicle faster down the tunnel. Kayo watched from the back seat as access hatches and spur tunnels periodically recessed the walls.

"Do you think we should investigate these?" Kayo asked.

Virgil side-glanced at the many passages they passed, "There's too many, and we don't have the time," he was conscious of the approaching Express, "besides, the power-cut happened further in, if they took Penelope off the monotrain they wouldn't have gotten this far out yet." Something deep down told Virgil that they needed to find Lady Penelope before the Express came through the tunnel. Kayo nodded in response to his advice and they continued through the dark chasm as rapidly as the pod would allow.

After some time they approached the sixteen mile mark on the display and Virgil slowed the vehicle to a stop so he and Kayo could survey the area. They heard the faint sound of men's voices around the bend in the tunnel ahead of them, along with a low rumbling that attested the fact the Express had entered the tunnel and was unknowingly speeding its way towards them. Kayo silently indicated forward to Virgil and he slowly moved the pod in the corresponding direction. As they rounded the bend, the control platform came in to view and Virgil's heart skipped a beat as he realised Lady Penelope was perilously hanging from the monotrain rail supports. He parked the pod at the end of the platform, clearing the tunnel track for the oncoming Express, the rumble of it accelerated along the tunnel and grew ever louder, echoing forebodingly off the walls.

Kayo and Virgil leapt nimbly out the vehicle and Kayo made directly for the control room, she braced herself against the open door way to the control station. She signaled to Lady Penelope to remain silent so not to alert the assailant to their presence. In a fluid movement, as Virgil used a grapple pack to elevate himself to the monotrain track, Kayo made her move in the control room, Virgil's movement having distracted her target. Virgil could hear the sounds of the ensuing struggle from inside as he quickly shimmied along the track until he was close enough to reach the restraints around Penelope's wrists. Virgil could feel the strong vibrations directly from the track now and the rushing noise they had first heard had grown in to a turbulent clamour. He took a small cutting tool out of his utility belt and began to cut through the cuffs holding the London Agent to the cable. Virgil and Penelope were lit up by the headlights of the approaching Express and they both stared helplessly back at the rapidly impending collision.


	7. Home, Parker

Chapter 7 – Home, Parker

Virgil and Penelope dropped to the floor of the tunnel as the cuffs finally gave way at the last moment. As they landed Virgil curled his arm around her head protectively and made sure she stayed as flat to the ground as they could. The sound of the monotrain whizzing just inches over them was deafening and Penelope had to close her eyes as the air currents it kicked up sent her loose blonde curls whipping around her face. It only lasted a few short moments, although it felt like much longer to Penelope, and the train had rocketed out of sight perhaps not even knowing they had been there. She and Virgil stood as its headlights faded around the bend in the tunnel towards Anderbad. Brushing the dirt off her coat she nodded politely at the Thunderbird 2 pilot.

"Thanks Virgil," she said in proper fashion. He smiled in return and helped her up the steps to the tunnel control room. Inside, Kayo had successfully overpowered the Professor's captor and was just hand-cuffing him to a sturdy pipe on the far wall where he'd stay away from causing them any more trouble. As she did so she noticed that he had a small tattoo in red ink at the base of his right thumb in the shape of a zig-zag. The strange man just grinned smugly at them as Virgil and Lady Penelope entered the control room. Penelope undid the Professor's bonds and he wrapped his arms around her, glad she was unharmed. She returned the embrace. Virgil found and pulled the jamming device from the console and contacted Thunderbird 5.

"John, can you hear me?" Virgil said as he tapped the communicator on his shoulder.

"Loud and clear Virgil." John answered. "What's the situation?"

"Lady Penelope and the Professor are safe," Virgil stated, "Kayo has detained the man responsible."

"The GDF are on their way, should be thirty minutes," John informed them, "He going to be a problem for you until then?"

Kayo regarded the assailant who sat stoically on the floor across the room from them as she walked to stand beside Virgil. "I don't think so," she replied.

While they waited Professor Borender kept apologising to Lady Penelope for all the trouble he'd caused. Kayo was on the com, liaising with GDF personnel to arrange the transportation of the abductor. Virgil stood with his arms crossed as he kept watch on their detainee from a comfortable distance. Since his capture the man had chosen to remain perfectly silent rather than reveal anything at all to them and only smiled smugly in response to any question Kayo or Lady Penelope had asked. Professor Borender kept describing him as a 'mad-man', although Virgil thought that understandable since he had been held captive by the man for over a week.

The GDF arrived and took custody of the mysterious man and escorted him away. He gave Kayo and Virgil a toothy grin as he passed by them in his cuffs, Virgil frowned in response.

"Let's get out of here," Kayo half-asked and half-stated, perhaps a little unnerved by their prisoner. Virgil nodded quietly and led the way back to the pod vehicle, he and Kayo boarded it while Professor Borender and Lady Penelope were helped in to a GDF transport. The two vehicles drove back out the tunnel together and parked up near Thunderbird 2 where Parker was waiting with Gordon.

"'Ome? M'lady?" was all that Parker said in his relief to see Lady Penelope safe and sound. She smiled at him fondly.

"Home, Parker." She looked sadly around at the absence of the fabulous pink Rolls-Royce.

Gordon smiled affectionately at her ladyship, "Maybe we can help with that," he offered pointing at Thunderbird 2 behind him. Virgil and Gordon stowed the pod vehicles whilst the others boarded the aircraft. Once all the checks had been completed Virgil set them off, heading towards Creighton-Ward Mansion.

In the drawing room Parker served Tea and Biscuits to the small party. Sir Jeremy was relieved to see his colleague again. "You did give us a fright old chap," he commented to the Professor.

"I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused," the Professor apologised particularly towards Lady Penelope, she smiled sweetly in response.

"Professor?" Kayo asked cautiously, "Do you think you could tell us about the refinery and what interest Jeff Tracy had in the project?"

Professor Borender looked sullen and slowly shook his head. Virgil and Gordon's hopes for some answers grew dim and Lady Penelope clearly saw the disappointment in their eyes.

"I hope you'll understand, but given the recent events I think it would be best if such information remained undisclosed." The Professor caught Gordon's eye and continued, "Your father was most keen for you not be involved."

Gordon exchanged a curious frown with Virgil. Lady Penelope questioned the Professor to reveal the location of the Toxerlene plant but he was most adamant that it was safer for everyone if the knowledge remained classified. The Tracy's were disappointed that the Professor was uncooperative but as he explained to them all his work had been supported by GDF and the World Council they reluctantly accepted they were not going to receive any more answers on the matter. They had at least saved Lady Penelope and Professor Borender's lives as well as keeping the top-secret knowledge from falling in to the wrong hands, they took the win.

THE END…


	8. Except for the fallout

…Except for the fallout

It was late on Tracy Island as Scott stood in Jeff Tracy's 'other office'. He scanned curiously over the dusty files and boxes, seemingly innocuous save for the fact they were secreted in the hidden room. The eldest Tracy sighed as he attempted to fathom his father's actions. He hoped that whatever was still left inside those files was enough to fill in some of the gaps that Borender was unwilling to share with them. Scott wondered what was so important about Borender's secret Toxerlene project that he'd have Gordon reassigned and not have revealed any of his involvement to the brothers. Almost in answer Brains appeared awkwardly in the doorway and hesitated. Scott cocked his head at him curiously, "What's up Brains? Did you find something?"

Brains shifted uncomfortably, "I b-b-believe so."

Scott allowed Brains to lead him in to the lab where he'd been working through the files from the Oxford box. Brains proceeded to lay a blueprint across the table in front of him, Scott looked it over quickly but it didn't make any sense to him. Brains then laid another over the top. Again Scott scanned the paperwork but failed to understand the design. Brains produced yet another blueprint and neatly laid it over the others. Scott sighed with frustration, "I don't get it Brains, it doesn't even look complete."

Brains flipped a switch on the table which illuminated the sheets from beneath. Scott could see clearly now the completed design created by the combined paperwork overlaid on each other. He frowned inquisitively not understanding the significance of what had been revealed to him. "What is it?"

"It's a n-n-nuclear reactor." Brains stated simply. "It's the only p-p-power source that works with the designs for the Toxerlene refinery."

Scott's frown deepened, there's no way his father would have been involved with something that depended on nuclear power, he just wouldn't… would he? The truth was Scott wasn't sure he knew anymore and that worried him.


End file.
